Princeton

Princeton put AI in charge of a fusion-plasma control loop running every 20 milliseconds; in one test it predicted a damaging instability 200 ms early and stopped it before it began

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Princeton put AI in charge of a fusion-plasma control loop running every 20 milliseconds; in one test it predicted a damaging instability 200 ms early and stopped it before it began

Nuclear fusion illustration Photo: Canva Inside a steel vault at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a superheated whirl of charged particles spins in near vacuum, held in place by invisible magnetic fields. This is a fusion plasma, the same kind of matter that powers the Sun, and it is notoriously difficult to control.In a recent … Read more

In 2023, Princeton researchers tested radiative cooling with natural ventilation and thermal mass, keeping a building 3.9°C below outdoor air

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In 2023, Princeton researchers tested radiative cooling with natural ventilation and thermal mass, keeping a building 3.9°C below outdoor air

In 2023, researchers tested whether a building could be cooler than the air outside while still relying on natural ventilation. The experiment used two insulated boxes in California to study how radiative cooling, thermal mass and temperature-driven airflow could work together without fans or mechanical systems. The test box had an uninsulated aluminium roof covered … Read more

A ketchup bottle cap inspired Princeton engineers to build a shape-shifting robot that moves without a motor

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A ketchup bottle cap inspired Princeton engineers to build a shape-shifting robot that moves without a motor

Kevin Liu showcases a geometry-powered robot that moves without motors or controls, PC: Aaron Nathans At Princeton Engineering, a team led by Glaucio Paulino has answered a question few people ever think to ask: what makes a ketchup bottle cap snap open and stay open rather than flopping shut? The hinge on a typical flip-top … Read more